Jimmie Pender of Wilson came out to see friends marching and waving from the floats.

“It’s been lovely,” Pender said. “It is the best one I have seen so far.”

Esther Coe of Wilson leaned against the hood of a car a couple rows back from the street where children gathered to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus.

“I think this is marvelous,” Coe said. “This is the best parade I have seen in quite a while. I worked for BB&T for 31 years and I’m telling you, this is tops here. Somebody put some work into this. For many years, we had only three bands. Now look at what we have today.”

Christmas Parade Photos

Turn to page 7A to see more photos from Saturday’s combined downtown Wilson Christmas parade and Sudan Shriners parade.